Thursday, October 29

A DeliciousTurkey Burger Recipe with Apples, Gruyere, and Sage Mayo That Changed My Life

Do you regularly cook foods for people in your family that you yourself don't eat? I do. Turkey burgers.

I just don't get it. Jeff was raised on good old fashioned beef patties. Yet, given the choice today, he invariably chooses turkey over beef. I, in contrast, am a 100% grass-fed beef kind of gal. I prefer beef's tender texture and rich flavor. With the right beef, a burger is delicious even without condiments. (Not that I'm suggesting you do that.)

So when we have burgers, I usually make Jeff a turkey burger and me a hamburger. The last turkey burger I made for him, I topped with sauteed apples, Gruyere cheese, and sage mayo.

After the first bite, he said, "Oh, God, this is good."

I nodded, smiled, and took a big bite out of my hamburger. He took another bite. "Sue, seriously, you've gotta taste this turkey burger. It's awesome."

"But, I don't like turk--"

"Just one bite. Come on."

I took a small bite. It was a revelation! I liked it. I took a larger bite. I loved it! The warm, tart apples, sweet, salty Gruyere, and creamy sage mayo made this turkey burger seem, well, not like a turkey burger. I took a bigger bite.

"Um, how much of my turkey burger are you gonna eat, hon?" Jeff asked me.

I slid the plate with my hamburger towards him, smiled, and took another bite of his turkey burger.

2. Place turkey in a bowl. Season with several shakes of salt and black pepper. Mix in Dijon. Form two equal sized burgers. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 2 teaspoons olive oil. Add burgers. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, until browned on the outside and cooked all the way through.

4. Once burgers are almost done, top each with 1 ounce of cheese. To assemble burgers, spread half the sage mayo on the inside of a roll. Place burger on the bottom half of the roll, and top with half the onion-apple mixture. Close the sandwich. Repeat. Serve hot.

In my local markets, I'm seeing 93% fat-free and 99% fat free ground turkey. Would you use the 93%, so there would be a tiny bit of moisture in the turkey meat? That's the one I use for burgers; I use the 99% fat free in soups.

We're all about turkey burgers in the kitchen here. Although my meat-loving child would likely scorn the combination that won you over, I know I would love it and next time we make burgers, I'm all over that.

I recently began reading this blog and just wanted to say I made this last night for myself and my extremely picky, never tries new things, boyfriend. And it was a hit! I made the mayo from scratch - super easy and since we don't eat mayo regularly, just enough for the burgers and a bit left over. And the market I get my ciabatta rolls from was closed so instead I used a hearty whole grain english muffin. Easy and quick burger packed with a ton of flavor. Well done!

My boyfriend who is so picky, only likes really spicy food and "doesn't like turkey burgers" said this may have been the tastiest thing I've ever made. I was waiting for him to complain about the dinner and he loved it! The rolls we bought were a little too tough, so that seems to be the only pitfall. This will certainly get added to the dinner rotation. Also I use pink lady apples (IMO the best apple ever) and added a bit of extra mustard, sage and a dash of cider vinegar to the mayo, and a little garlic and extra mustard to the turkey since we like our flavors pretty bold. AAAAAA-mazing.